Eclipse: Chapter Eleven
The eleventh and final chapter of Eclipse. Chapter Eleven The night was cold and biting as I slept in my den. I had another dream with Dappled Leaves. This time, whenever I tried to speak, there was no sound and she simply said, "You told the others that they would have to leave at the first quake of the earth. Stick to your plans." Following that, there were more dreams of fire, but Dappled Leaves wasn't there. I woke up to the sound of someone entering my den. It was Darkfern. "Swiftstar! Are you awake?" she said, looking worried. "Yeah, I am. What do you need?" "Something tells me that the prophecy will be fulfilled today. Be on your guard." she finished. "I know. I've already made plans with the leaders. If the danger is life-threatening, we leave immediately. If it's not, well... I don't really know." "If it wasn't life-threatening, the prophecy would be wrong. For the second time..." I got up suddenly, remembering an agreement I had made with Blackstream. "I need to go organize the morning patrols. Blackstream is elsewhere." "Alright, but remember what I said." "Believe me, I will not forget it. I'll meet with you at lunch." And I padded out of my den, heading towards the highrock. Rosepool sat at the top of a tree, gazing down at the rest of the territory. "Something's not right..." "Come on, Rosepool, we're on a patrol." "I know." She said to Owlstorm. "I'm looking down on the territory. I can see any intruders." "We haven't checked for non-RiverClan scent." "Owlstorm, come up here. I think we might have more to worry about than intruders..." Owlstorm reluctantly climbed the tree, digging his claws into the bark and making the pads of his paws sore. "What am I supposed to see that's so ''important?" Rosepool looked over at the mountains. "You know how, in leaf-fall, the trees on the mountains turn red and orange, and make the mountains themselves look that way?" "Yes..." he responded. "I don't think that leaves can turn black." Owlstorm stared into the distance. She was right. The mountains were black. "In fact, I think that this has something to do with the prophecy that you heard at the gathering." Rosepool finished. "It's probably just the shadows or something. Move on, Rosepool." "But-" "''Come on." I laid in my nest, staring blankly at a spiderweb up in the corner of my den. I heard the moss at the entrance rustling. "Who is it?" I called. "Rosepool. Can I come in?" "Yes." She stepped in and sat down on the empty nest. "Why are you just laying there?" "I'm starting to find that being a leader isn't always exciting. The patrols are organized, I've eaten, Darkfern is alright... I haven't exactly got anything else to do." "Isn't it great that I'm here? I've got something else for you to worry about." "Alright. Tell me." "I was on patrol, and I climbed a tree so that I could cover more area, and I could see the mountains, of course..." "Right..." A tiny hint of fear appeared in Rosepool's eyes. "They're black. The mountains are black." Immediately I remembered the dreams I had before. Fire blazing in a forest... And of course, the trees were burnt... and blackened. "It might be fire. Have you told Darkfern yet?" "No..." I got up onto my feet. "We should, then." "Swiftstar is right, it's fire. Did you see smoke? Open flame, even?" "No. Just blackened trees..." Rosepool replied. "This isn't something we've seen before, then, because if there was smoke from a normal fire, one of the warriors would have reported it." "Darkfern..." I began, "Isn't this what the whole prophecy was about? That we're up against something we can't see and never have? You're really just restating it." "No. This is something new. I believe that it's an omen, meaning that we are within hours of the disaster." "We need to be prepared, then..." Rosepool said. "Swiftstar, you could give an announcement about the fire. Start an evacuation." "I told the other leaders that we would be gone at the first quake of the earth." I thought back to the dream I had the night before. "We have to stick to our plans. Even if this fire is the danger, we can't leave until we've proven it." "But-" "And you know that a leader's word is law. I'm sorry, Rosepool." Rosepool and I stepped out of the den, looking at the mountains in the distance. I was truly afraid. Rosepool and I shared tongues, but both of us couldn't be calmed. More than that, other warriors had started to notice the blackened mountains and became just as afraid as we were. "Rosepool, I'll be in my den if you need me. Try to rest." I said before leaving again. I closed my eyes and tried to figure out what the disaster might be, even try to picture it, but I couldn't. My mind and body had finally given up, and sleep took over. I was again in the perpetual twilight of StarClan, looking at the starry figure of Dappled Leaves. She turned around, her eyes softly glowing in a deep amber. "You stuck to your plans. Now, it is in StarClan's hands to let this unfold. But I promise, you will not lose your loved ones." "Will I ever see you again?" I said. "Maybe. I know that Rosepool will. Goodbye!" The dream closed, sky folding downward on grass. When I woke up again, the sun was going down. As I stood up, I knew what was about to happen, and without fear, I climbed onto the Gathering Rock. "All cats who are old enough to swim join here beneath the Gathering Rock! And Rosepool, join me on top." She stepped forward and leapt up, landing perfectly and standing beside me. "All of you remember the events of the last gathering. The earthquake, especially." I began. Rosepool continued for me. "Another is coming, and it'll be far worse. We will have to leave." "I have no idea whether we'll be able to come back or not, all I know is that if you stay, you die. The prophecy was real." I said. "I'll say when we'll leave, and you'll be able to hear me." "If you have doubts, you can stay. We won't mind." finished Rosepool. Suddenly, I felt strange. Like I was a still pool of water, and a stone had been dropped from above me... A silent alarm went off in my head. On cue, the ground shook. It was harder than last time. The dens came down almost immediately, and I had to jump down from the Gathering Rock to avoid being injured. "Run!" Rosepool and I shouted to the rest of the Clan. "Take your kits and follow us! If you don't, you'll be crushed!" The Clan cats knew that we were serious. Queens and toms grabbed their kits by the scruff of their neck and hauled them away to follow us. I was at the west edge of camp, pressing toward the edge of the territory, when I heard a yowl. Turning around for just a moment, I saw Blackstream underneath a rock. Blood pooled around him. I knew that I had no time to mourn for my deputy. As we came towards the border, it became harder to breathe. Black clouds of ash filled the air. I turned to look back at the mountains, and a mass of orange liquid flowed down from them, in streams. Dappled Leaves had been right all along. Without her help, we could have never escaped this. "All of you, get down! Get whatever you can to protect your breath, because the ash will damage you!" I shouted, already with a raspy voice. The Clan obeyed, and many picked leaves or gathered moss to cover their mouths with. I did the same, as did Rosepool. We kept heading "to my left", as I had said at the leader's conference, and I began to see the other clans. As all of us ran farther into the outer territories, time seemed to slow down for me. I felt calmer, and the only thing I thought about was whether a previous kittypet would know anything about this disaster. "All of you, listen!" I shouted. "Listen!!" The noise of the crowd died down just enough for them to hear me. "All right..." I said. "Are there any previous kittypets here? Anyone with a lot of experience with twolegs?" A few cats stood up above the others, in the ThunderClan group. "I need to know about what just happened. Did the twolegs ever watch for this? Did they have a name for it? What?" The largest and oldest of the kittypets spoke. "Twolegs have bizarre contraptions that allow them to communicate across large distances. One of these is a flat stone that appears to have information." The next cat joined in. "We could understand them. The stone would sometimes show a view of what's happening to the mountains right now, and say the words 'volcano alert'. When I saw the mountains, I immediately knew what was happening. This kind of thing is dangerous for all of us, especially the twolegs." she said. "And, if you were wondering, I can confirm that the orange is 'magma'." The oldest spoke again. "What you saw was a volcano, like Sweetwhisker said. A fiery mountain." "Thank you, both of you." I said. "And now, I think that all of us should work on building a place to stay. We can return to the territories when the threat is gone." That's where all of this ends. We left our home, the Lake Territory, and built a camp for all of the clans to live together in. Later on, we separated. I know that this isn't really the best place for our story to stop, but I have to say that this is The End. I've told you all that happened. Category:Fanfictions Category:Cryptic Lynx's Fanfictions